ASHWAUBENON - The village board took initial steps Tuesday night that could see construction start in August on a $10 million stadium for the Green Bay Bullfrogs.

The Ashwaubenon Village Board on Tuesday approved a 20-year lease with Madison-based Big Top Baseball for operation of the stadium that calls for the company to provide an up-front investment of $500,000 in the project. Big Top would then make a $205,000 lease payment to the village each year through 2023 with 1 percent increases each year through 2038.

Trusrees also approved a $753,000 contract with Pendulum, a Kansas City-based stadium designer, and $457,000 contract with RODAC Construction for construction management and keeping project costs below the village's $10 million budget.

Madison-based Big Top Baseball said the board’s approvals mean construction could start by late summer and wrap up by May 2019.

The village has an agreement in place to buy the industrial property located just south of the village hall, in the 2200 block of Holmgren Way, for $1.2 million. Big Top Baseball President Vern Stenman said Pendulum has already looked at the site and might try to work part of the existing building into the stadium plans.

Pendulum has worked on several minor league baseball stadiums, including Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute, and is expected to complete a design for the Ashwaubenon stadium in May.

Big Top did not change much of its pitch from when it was pursuing The Shipyard outdoor events center in Green Bay. The company broke off plans with the city of Green Bay earlier this month, opting for the "certainty" of working with the village.

Stenman said the group intends to bring a Professional Development League soccer team to the stadium as well as concerts and other events. The lease also gives the village the right to hold 10 events in the stadium each year, as well.

"We do not see the stadium here in Ashwaubenon as just a stadium. It’s really going to be a culmination of things we’ve been doing as an entertainment company," Stenman said.

Village Manager Allison Swanson said the village fast-tracked the design and construction management contracts to accommodate a quick timeframe for starting construction. She said the village will still put the construction contracts out for public bid this spring.

Trustees asked whether the $500,000 grant the Green Bay/Brown County Professional Football Stadium District awarded the Shipyard project would transfer to the village's project with the Bullfrogs.

Stadium district representatives have said both stadium projects would have to submit new applications for their projects, village staff said.

The lease terms also call for both Big Top Baseball and the village to contribute to a capital improvement fund for the venue. The village will contribute $50,000 annually beginning in 2019 while Big Top will contribute a total of $750,000 between 2023 and 2037.